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Phrase(s): hit on something
to discover something. • She hit on a new scheme for removing the impurities from drinking water. • I hit on it when I wasn’t able to sleep one night., Phrase(s): hit (up)on someone or something
1. Lit. to strike or pound on someone or something. (Upon is formal and less commonly used than on.) • Jeff hit upon the mugger over and over. • I hit on the radio until it started working again. 2. Fig. to discover someone or something. • I think I have hit upon something. There is a lever you have to press in order to open this cabinet. • I hit on Tom in an amateur play production. I offered him a job in my nightclub immediately. 3. Go to hit on someone; hit on something., Phrase(s): hit someone or an animal on something
to strike someone or an animal in a particular place. • The stone hit me on the leg. • I hit the beaver on its side and it didn’t seem to feel it. • She hit herself on her left cheek., Phrase(s): hit on someone
Inf. to flirt with someone; to make a pass at someone. • The women were all hitting on George, but he didn’t complain. • I thought he was going to hit on me— but he didn’t.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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1. Also, hit upon. Discover, happen to find, as in I've hit upon a solution to this problem. [c. 1700] 2. Make sexual advances to someone, especially unwanted ones, as in You can't go into that bar without being hit on. [Slang; mid-1900s]
American Heritage Idioms